Quote: "Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens 'playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information.'"
The guidelines and regulations Citizen Journalists have to follow.
Freedom of the Press: The right of individuals to express themselves through an independent press and media.
Ethics in Journalism: The guiding principles of journalism that help journalists to produce truthful and responsible reporting.
Copyright & Fair Use: The legal principles surrounding the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, and the rights of creators and users.
Defamation: The legal framework that governs false statements or information that harms a person's reputation.
Access to Public Records: The rights of journalists and the public to access information held by public institutions, including government bodies.
Privacy Laws: The legal principles that protect an individual's right to control the use of their personal information.
Libel & Slander: The civil or criminal implications of publishing false or harmful claims about an individual or organization.
Digital Media Law: The legal status and implications of online content and the use of digital communication technologies.
Shield Laws: The legal protections afforded to journalists and their sources to keep confidential information from being exposed.
Reputation Management: Strategies for managing and protecting one's reputation in the face of negative publicity or defamation.
Defamation: When a citizen journalist publishes false information that harms someone's reputation.
Privacy: Issues about publishing private information without consent.
Copyright: When a citizen journalist uses someone else's work without attribution or permission.
Intellectual property rights: This arises when a citizen journalist creates original works and someone else takes credit.
Libel: Publication of written, false statements that damage a person's reputation.
Slander: Creating unwarranted and false statements that hurt someone's reputation.
Invasion of privacy: The unauthorized intrusion into someone's private life.
Confidential information: Publishing information that is confidential or classified, violating security, and privacy protection laws.
Misrepresentation: Presenting false information with an intent to deceive.
Censorship: Restricting, suppressing, or prohibiting citizens' rights to express themselves freely.
Plagiarism: Presenting someone else's work as your original work.
Anonymous sources: When a citizen journalist uses unnamed sources to publish news stories.
Cyberbullying: Using digital platforms to harass, intimidate, or threaten someone.
Quote: "Courtney C. Radsch defines citizen journalism 'as an alternative and activist form of news gathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but is driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism'."
Quote: "Jay Rosen offers a simpler definition: 'When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another.'"
Quote: "The underlying principle of citizen journalism is that ordinary people, not professional journalists, can be the main creators and distributors of news."
Quote: "Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, both of which are practiced by professional journalists."
Quote: "New media technology, such as social networking and media-sharing websites, in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular telephones, have made citizen journalism more accessible to people worldwide."
Quote: "Notable examples of citizen journalism reporting from major world events are, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, the 2013 protests in Turkey, the Euromaidan events in Ukraine, and Syrian Civil War, the 2014 Ferguson unrest and the Black Lives Matter movement."
Quote: "Being that citizen journalism is yet to develop a conceptual framework and guiding principles, it can be heavily opinionated and subjective, making it more supplemental than primary in terms of forming public opinion."
Quote: "Critics of the phenomenon, including professional journalists and news organizations, claim that citizen journalism is unregulated, amateur, and haphazard in quality and coverage."
Quote: "Furthermore, citizen journalists, due to their lack of professional affiliation, are thought to lack resources as well as focus on how best to serve the public."